


presents

by warriorprincessclarke



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-05
Updated: 2019-03-05
Packaged: 2019-11-12 06:08:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18005315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/warriorprincessclarke/pseuds/warriorprincessclarke
Summary: Jester feels sorry for Caleb because he does not have the gold to buy special paper for his spells, so she buys him some as a present. This leads Caleb to reveal something about his past that makes Jester feel bad for him, so she goes out of her way to make him feel loved.





	presents

Caleb hadn’t asked for anything when Jester and Caduceus said they were into town to stock up on supplies. Jester was confused, Caleb was always asking for them to pick up paper and ink for his spells or at least to keep an eye out for a nice bookshop. Although he’d said he needed nothing. But Jester had watched him use up the last of his fancy spell paper three nights prior.

 

While Caleb was downstairs at the bar with Beau and Nott, sipping his drink in small almost inconceivable gulps, Jester snuck upstairs to his room. She opened the creaking door with the key she’d begged off Nott and beelined to the bedside table where Caleb had left his pouch sitting.  _ He ought to be more careful, I could totally steal all his money right now,  _ Jester thought. Jester opened the tiny brown satchel and, to her surprise, found it completely empty. That must have been why he didn’t ask for anything, he didn’t have the gold to buy it. 

 

Jester gingerly placed the satchel back the way it had been and locked the door behind her to go get Caduceus. She had work to do.

* * *

 

 

“Caleb! I have a present for you,” Jester said in a sing songy voice, holding out an armful of paper and and a pot of ink. 

 

Caleb looked up from where he was sitting in the middle of the rug in his room, books spread out in a semi circle around him. “What is this?” He asked skeptically, as if the offering were about to turn into a bouquet full of snakes.

 

“It is your extra fancy paper,” Jester said, “Obviously.” She squatted down and dumped the pile haphazardly into Caleb’s unready arms. He fumbled with the items, his brows furrowed, trying to make words go from his brain to his lips.

 

“I told you I didn’t need anything,” he said. He gathered up the bundle and rose to his feet.

 

“That’s what you  _ said,  _ but that is not what you meant. You used up all your paper the other day, and you’re constantly complaining about how you need more paper  _ except  _ for today.”

 

“That is because I do not need any,” Caleb said, avoiding Jester’s eyes, no matter how many times she leaned to try to catch his gaze. He tried to hand the bundle back to Jester, but she stepped back and put her arms out.

 

“Nope! They are yours now. Finders keepers. No take backs. Sorry Caleb,” she said grinning from ear to ear.

 

For a moment, Caleb said nothing, his eyes flicking between the paper and Jester. 

 

“I can’t take this, I cannot pay you back,” he said, shame shadowing his voice.

 

“I know that is why it’s called a present. You do not have to pay someone for getting you a present. I know you need lots and lots of fancy paper for your spells and things, so  _ really  _ it would be worse for all of us if you did not have this paper. It’s not even a gift for you, it’s a gift for everybody so we don’t all die in a big fight,” Jester said, trying to ease the obvious guilt on Caleb’s face. 

 

The tactic seemed to work. Or rather, it overlaid a smile over the top of his knitted brows. It was apparent he knew exactly what she was doing, but his face still melted into a relative ease. Jester’s heart blossomed, for it was a rare sight to see Caleb smile so genuinely. It wasn’t from ear to ear, it was the kind that tried to force itself into a frown because it felt so foreign on his lips. But even through his knitted eyebrows Jester could see the smile reached his eyes and crinkled the teeny tiny forming crows feet at his temples.

 

Caleb set the papers down on his bed and took Jester by the hand. “Thank you, Jester,” he said softly. His voice was small as if he’d been crying, but there were no tears in sight. “This is very kind of you. I have not received a gift in a very long time.”

 

“Not even on your birthday?” Jester said, her own voice small.

 

“Not very many people in the asylum cared about birthdays,” Caleb said like he was telling a child that their puppy didn’t really go off to live on a farm in Alfield. 

 

“Oh,” Jester said, feeling a little bit like she was the child. She noticed that Caleb was still holding her hand, his thumb moving almost imperceptibly across her knuckles. His hand was warm and comforting, but she wasn’t the one who needed comforting. Her life was so nice and full of birthdays and presents from those she loved. “When is your birthday?”

 

“It is in the winter. Many months from now.”

 

“We missed it, then?” Jester asked. They’d been traveling together for months, well through the winter, and he hadn’t mentioned it.

 

“Yes, but it has been missed many times before. I didn’t even think to mention it.”

 

“Next time you should,” Jester said.

 

Caleb’s stoic face once more softened into a crinkled smile, “I will.”

* * *

 

 

Jester went to town again the next day, but this time by herself. She’d been so focused on the paper that she hadn’t looked at any other shops, so it took her the better part of an hour to locate a bookshop. She didn’t exactly know what she was looking for, she didn’t know exactly what Caleb liked to read. The shopkeep didn’t seem interested in helping her figure it out, either, so she was on her own. She spent two hours perusing the shelves trying to find anything that reminded her of Caleb. There were so many that gave her the vague sense of her friend, but none that really struck the chord she was looking for. He read so many books it would be impossible to choose. 

 

Jester finally reached the romance section, which was a tiny unkempt corner in the back of the store. On the bottom shelf, she spotted a familiar spine. It was one of her favorite books about a young peasant girl who gets lost on her journey to Zadash and taken in by a rough and tumble half-orc whom she ends up falling in love with. She’d stolen it off her mother’s bookshelf when she was younger and never returned it. She always wished she had brought a copy with her on the road, but she’d never seen another in the store. It was old and looked like it had been on this particular shelf for a very long time. It had brought her so much joy in her time locked away in her room, she was sure it would bring joy to anybody. So she marched it up to the front desk.

 

Later that night when the rest of the group was still downstairs and Caleb had excused himself to his room for the night, Jester snuck back up again. She creaked open the door and saw Caleb in the same position as the day before, but this time surrounded by paper and holding a quill in his hand.

 

“Jester?” Caleb said, jumping slightly at her sudden appearance, “Do you need something?”

 

“Can I come in, please?”

 

“Of course,” he said, stammering as he stood up.

 

Jester kept her back to the door as she shut it, hiding the book behind her skirts. “Close your eyes.”

 

“What?” Caleb asked, half closing his eyes.

 

“All the way!” Jester commanded, and he obeyed. “Now hold out your hands. No peeking!”

 

Jester placed the book in Caleb’s outstretched hands, which flinched upon coming into contact with the book. 

 

“Now open them!” She said clapping her hands together with glee.

 

Caleb looked at the book with wide eyed confusion, “Jester, what is this?”

 

“That is my favorite book,” Jester said matter of factly.

 

“Why are you giving it to me?” He asked, voice more like a breath.

 

“Because, it is my favorite book. I know that you like reading books a whole lot and I am sure that you have read all the ones that you have. This one has made me smile so many times that I thought you might like to give it a try! And plus I didn’t know what kind of books you like to read so I thought I should get you one that I know on good authority is the best book ever written,” Jester said confidently. Caleb’s arms were still outstretched holding the book, so Jester nudged them closer to his body, forcing him to accept it.

 

“Did you go out and buy this today?” Was his only response.

 

“Yeah,” Jester replied nonchalantly, as if it hadn’t been a multiple hour ordeal.

 

“But why?”

 

“You’ve missed so many birthdays,” Jester said kicking the ground with her foot, suddenly self-conscious of her gesture, “I thought it would be nice to get a present.”

 

At that, Caleb’s face melted. It wasn’t the same kind of soft grin as the day before, no it melted into a sort of sadness masked with a smile. “Oh, Jester,” he breathed. It looked like he wanted to say more, but the words once again weren’t coming to him. Instead of saying anything else he took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. It was once again warm and comforting. Jester felt herself lean her weight towards it seeking more of that warmth. He let a small smile curl upon his lips and he reached forward and kissed Jester’s round, freckled cheek.

 

His beard was scratchy but his lips were soft and were made of that same now familiar warmth. Jester felt warm blood course through her body and rise to meet the warmth of Caleb’s kiss. He pulled away and she could feel her cheeks turning purple. He had pulled away, but his hand was still caressing her shoulder and his face was inches from hers.

 

“This,” he said, his voice shaking ever so slightly as he motioned toward the book, “is the nicest thing anybody has done for me in a long time.”

 

This time it was Jester who couldn’t keep his eyes on him. She let her gaze flit all around the room, letting them land anywhere but Caleb’s face. “You deserve somebody to be nice to you Caleb.”

 

A low chuckle rumbled in Caleb’s chest. “You are the nicest person I know, Jester.” 

 

She looked up and couldn’t help smiling into those eyes that were dark so much of the time, but now harbored a small, warm light within them. Once their eyes locked, Jester couldn’t look away, nor did she try. She felt his hand slide from her shoulder up to her neck to cup the side of her face. Instinctively she raised her hand and gingerly grabbed his wrist to hold his hand closer against her cheek. A smile wider and sweeter than she had ever seen on his face spread across his cheeks as he leaned down and pulled her close, kissing her softer than she had ever been kissed before. Their lips and bodies pressed together with the slightest pressure, Jester not wanting to move lest she risk ending the moment. He smelled like the smoke of a bonfire with friends and tasted like the sweet honey he used for his spells, two sensations that fit together only on Caleb.

 

Caleb pulled away and Jester couldn’t help but feel every inch of space between them, wishing the gap would close itself again. The smile was still on his lips; this was the longest she’d ever witnessed him like this. She liked it. A smile suited him.

 

He took her by the hand again and said, “If this is your favorite book, like you say, would you mind reading some of it to me? I am sure it would sound better coming out of a mouth that loves it so.”

 

Jester giggled, “Okay Caleb.”

 

He led her to the bed and handed her the book. She settled in next to him, resting her head against his chest where she could feel his heart beating steadily and began reading to him. She read and read until her eyes grew tired and her voice scratchy. The last thing she remembered was Caleb lifting the book out of her hands and his gentle, slow voice reading her favorite words as she drifted off to sleep.


End file.
